1. Technical Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the game of golf and, more particularly, to a golf swing training device which is uniquely configured to maintain a desirable bent wrist condition through the entirety of the downswing (including golf ball impact) and follow-though or finish of the golf swing.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the game of golf, in order to control the golf ball, one must control the instrument (i.e., the golf club). The golf club consists of three primary components, which are the club head, the club shaft, and the club face. One of the biggest, if not the biggest problem, golfers battle in trying to develop and maintain an effective golf swing is the unnecessary and tremendously destructive flattening of the right wrist (in the case of a right-handed golfer) prior to or during the impact of the club face on the golf ball and separation of the ball therefrom. The stifling effects of a flattening right wrist of a right handed golfer during the downswing includes the loss of control of all three of the aforementioned components of the golf club, thereby resulting in a loss of distance and direction of the golf ball. More particularly, club head lag and the circular orbit of the club head (power), club face alignment (direction), and the club shaft plane (direction) are all destroyed by the flattening right wrist.
In order to incorporate right wrist flattening for a right handed golfer into a golf stroke procedure with any kind of reliability, one would need to trigger the flattening of the right wrist at the same point, flatten it at the same rate, and flatten it by the same amount. This, however, gives rise to a virtually insurmountable timing challenge that golfers struggle with and thus prevents consistency in the golf swing. A far superior procedure would be to completely omit the act of right wrist flattening from the stroke pattern. Since, in a sense, the moment of impact of the club face against the golf ball is golf's moment of truth as a result of the data transfer from the golf club to the ball which occurs at this moment, the ability to keep the right wrist in its bent condition as achieved at the top of the backswing is one of the major factors separating successful golfers from poor golfers. Along these lines, since one of the primary principles of the game and of a successful and effective golf swing is to create and sustain a line of compression, the undesirable right wrist flattening and its associated lag loss will account for the exact opposite effect, i.e., compression leakage.
There is currently known in the prior art certain golf swing training products which are adapted to prevent a flattening right wrist in a right handed golfer. However, these currently known products possess certain deficiencies which detract from their overall utility. More particularly, such existing products are configured to impart to the wearer/user a fixed, exact amount of wrist bend at the start position of the golf swing (i.e., at address). However, the full amount of wrist bend in the right wrist is typically not achieved by a player until the top of the backswing has been reached. In this regard, for most players, the natural condition of the right wrist at the starting position or address is generally flat, with the right wrist achieving a fully bent condition at the top of the backswing, and optimally maintaining such bent condition through the completion of the downswing (including impact) and follow-through. Since currently known wrist condition training devices fix the right wrist with a prescribed amount of bend at the outset, the wearer/user is unable to assume a normal, generally flat right wrist condition at address, and is further unable to bend the right wrist back naturally during the golf stroke, and in particular the backswing.
The present invention addresses and overcomes the deficiencies highlighted above by providing a golf swing training device which is uniquely configured to allow varying levels or degrees of right wrist bend during the backswing of the golf stroke, and to preserve the amount of right wrist bend achieved at the top of the backswing through the entire downswing of the wearer/user (including the point of impact between the club face and the golf ball), as well as the follow-through/finish of the golf swing. These, as well as other features and advantages of the present invention, will be described in more detail below.